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Today I visited villages in the Amathole District Municipality (ADM) in the Eastern Cape to conduct oversight over the R631 million project to build 66 000 toilets in rural villages, currently being undertaken by the politically connected Siyenza Group.

The tender for the project was awarded to Siyenza in November last year by ADM without due process being followed. It has since emerged that Siyenza is linked to family of President Jacob Zuma, ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe and Small Business Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu.

Despite the large payments made to Siyenza for “work already done” – almost 20% of the total tender amount – only 5 000 out of 66 000 toilets have allegedly been built according to Siyenza CEO, Bongani Mpeluza. This makes it seemingly impossible to meet the June deadline for the project.

Apart from the slow pace of construction, the work being conducted is of an exceptionally poor quality. At a number of the sites I visited in Kwasaki and KwaTuba Village, the toilet structures were either incomplete or unsuitable for use due to poor construction quality.

In some instances, residents are using their own toilets – which they built years ago – as the Siyenza toilets are not considered safe. Residents, including an 80 year old woman, complained that in some cases contractors abandoned the sites after digging just a hole.

Despite this, Siyenza has been paid R114-million so far, starting with a payment of R31 million in September last year, even though the contract was only formally awarded in November. These details emerged in a response from Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance, Fikile Xasa.

It is clear that the dignity of citizens is being compromised by the lack of decent sanitation services while those connected to Siyenze are getting rich. Directors of Siyenza have allegedly been seen splurging on Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches and lavish parties while people are left without the services the group was contracted to provide.

The Public Protector has agreed to my request for an investigation into the scandal, and we are pursuing various documents relating to the tender via a PAIA submitted last week.

I will continue to work with the Eastern Cape leadership to expose those responsible for this gross violation of human rights. We will not allow citizens to suffer while those connected to the ANC get rich.

Issued by DA